Super Jet I hate working on Skis!!

[enzo]

Seems like all of done this year is work on my skis.


When I got back in to this sport back in 2004 I had an SXR. I just put Gas in it and rode.

I rode Motocross and desert with my buddy's 2-3 times a week back than And the maintenance on the bike was a headache. Changing tires, Air filters, Oil, Fork rebuilds, Chains, Spokes etc. Than washing the Bike and all your gear.

I had told my buddy's the ski was maintenance free!! No oil or filters to change, No chain or tires to wear out, No power washing when you are done. Just gas and go!

This year I have worked on skis way more than I ever did on motorcycles!! Problem is my equipment is older now and I ride the poop out of it in the ocean, I have also had some seriously bad luck.

Doing stator swaps today to find an electrical gremlin. Grrr

 

[SuziQ]

Running with that thought, I think most that purchase should wait to mod. When I first got into it all, a mentor suggested I keep mine stock, so I would not have to wrench; it was excellent advice too! I always hate to see someone jump on the site and start asking what they should change and begin buying this and that, before they even learn to ride or develop their own personal style, for their style should dictate their mods. I hope you find your gremlin Enzo.

 

[KR]

The only reliable part on a jet ski is the rubber exhaust hose haha!

 

[GIL]

I did the MX thing for 30 years and I know what u mean. It is ALOT of work!
IMO skis are easy as long as you set them up bullet proof from the start and even then its not always perfect.

 

[Waternut]

IMO, that first year or two that you have to wrench on ski's constantly is exceptionally beneficial. Don't get me wrong...it sucks. The thing is, if you're smart enough to correct the problem so it can't happen again then you eventually get it all worked out. Then once you've determined what can and can't go wrong, troubleshooting is quick and painless. Connectors and switches are absolutely a NO GO for me. Doesn't matter how good the quality or the riding condition. They will fail and it's a nightmare to figure out. The other benefit is the knowledge and experience of working on a ski. Over the summer we had a ride here. I landed hard and couldn't get fuel to my engine. Turns out it was something simple but I pulled the engine, pipe, and gas tank out of my ski on the beach and was riding in record time. If that had happened a year earlier, I would've thrown in the towel and then been pissed off because of the fun that I missed.

 

[infamy]

The only reliable part on a jet ski is the rubber exhaust hose haha!

ya, at least until your carbs rub a whole through it.

 

[Tyler Zane]

Running with that thought, I think most that purchase should wait to mod. When I first got into it all, a mentor suggested I keep mine stock, so I would not have to wrench; it was excellent advice too! I always hate to see someone jump on the site and start asking what they should change and begin buying this and that, before they even learn to ride or develop their own personal style, for their style should dictate their mods. I hope you find your gremlin Enzo.

i jumped in with both feet!!!

 

[shanes]

I did the MX thing for 30 years and I know what u mean. It is ALOT of work!
IMO skis are easy as long as you set them up bullet proof from the start and even then its not always perfect.

Yes but its great fun , i miss working on my bikes having a workshop with all the tools , i just got another bike here in Jakarta not many places to ride but at least i have a excuses to buy another set of tools and can pull it to bits and put it back together again :-}}}

only 7 days and ill be flying out to my place in spain with my poor lonely garage waiting for me :-}}}}

ill get them all out charge the batteries change the oil then i have some new graphics kits to fit , give them all a quick spin wash and oil them up and lock them away again until i get over again .

i love working on my bikes and skis

 

[SuziQ]

i jumped in with both feet!!!

ya, but you have a more than worthy reason, plus it's not like you haven't owned a ski for a good long while.

 

[OCD Solutions]

The more i learn about skis the less i wrench but the biggest difference is my budget. When my ski budget was much smaller i was always looking to shortcut a repair to save a buck and i was always chasing gremlins. Now that i can afford to do things right i never seem to have any problems, at least not major ones that can't be fixed on the beach anyways.

Since i started building skis from the ground up I have also learned that commitment is also a key element to watercraft repair. In the time that the average rider spends to dink around trying to get a starter off in the hull, i can pull the engine out, have the starter changed and back in the ski. The difference is I committed to what needed to be done. For instance, I had a 2 hour window saturday night and i managed to pull a jet pump, pull the shaft and bearings and swap it over to a mag pump and get it reinstalled back in the ski, ready to run. I then had a shower, got dressed to go out and was posting pics on the board when my wife walked thru the door 10 minutes early. I still got busted but that's not the point here.

I have seen guys so reluctant to spend money on a ski but then waste 10+ hours chasing an air leak. I don't know about you guys but 10 hours of my time is worth alot of money. If i suspect i have an airleak, i can pull the motor, tear it down, clean it up and completely reassemble it with all new seals and gaskets in less than 5 hours, probably even less than 3 hours if i was on my game. If i commit to it.

Electrical is even easier to resolve although not as cheap as new gaskets and seals. Just send it all to JSS and get it reworked at once. New stator and coil anyways. The rest can be patched but that new coil and stator is some of the best money spent in my book.

Both of my skis have run troublefree since i built them and with routine maintenance should continue to do so. When little things start to plaugue them, i will pick a weekend, tear them down to pieces, clean and prep everything and reassemble every nut and bolt again. Some will call me anal but i am not the guy with my hood off at the beach. I had a dead battery for the last ride and i was pissed, i had a spare and was going in under 10 minutes but I was still pissed.

Now you know why they call me OCD. :biggrin:

 

[B3IS]

Sorry but I hate working on my rides. I stopped changing the oil and doing my own maintenance on my trucks about 10 years ago. Working on your on the beach sucks so having a reliable boat makes all the differance to me.

 

[munki63]

electrical gremlins are pretty much the only issue I can never get rid of... Bilge switch and the Bilge most common one per season it seams... OCD is right tho work on skis a few times and with the right tools you can fix almost any problem in 2 hours and be riding again, providing you have the parts

 

[SuziQ]

:bananajump:Intermission:

 

[sjetrider]

WOW! Very impressive collection, all yours? 2 motards and 2 for dirt only. NOICE!!!

Yes but its great fun , i miss working on my bikes having a workshop with all the tools , i just got another bike here in Jakarta not many places to ride but at least i have a excuses to buy another set of tools and can pull it to bits and put it back together again :-}}}

only 7 days and ill be flying out to my place in spain with my poor lonely garage waiting for me :-}}}}

ill get them all out charge the batteries change the oil then i have some new graphics kits to fit , give them all a quick spin wash and oil them up and lock them away again until i get over again .

i love working on my bikes and skis

 

[Dustin Mustangs]

I couldn't agree less. I enjoy wrenching on skis almost as much as riding them. Nothing like putting back a couple of cold ones out in the old man cave while fixing/dialing/strengthening something on the ski. In fact, I will often go out there to just look my ski over for stuff to do. IMO, a 2-stroke ski has the perfect level of complexity. There is enough going on to keep me interested and challenged but not enough to overwhelm and frustrate me. Not to mention our engine compartments are pretty roomy and easy to access compared to, say, a late model Camaro. Do a header swap without a lift on one of those and you will be running back to your ski apologizing. Hell, even changing the spark plugs on one of those is a nightmare.

 

[Matt_E]

The more i learn about skis the less i wrench but the biggest difference is my budget. When my ski budget was much smaller i was always looking to shortcut a repair to save a buck and i was always chasing gremlins. Now that i can afford to do things right i never seem to have any problems, at least not major ones that can't be fixed on the beach anyways.

Since i started building skis from the ground up I have also learned that commitment is also a key element to watercraft repair. In the time that the average rider spends to dink around trying to get a starter off in the hull, i can pull the engine out, have the starter changed and back in the ski. The difference is I committed to what needed to be done. For instance, I had a 2 hour window saturday night and i managed to pull a jet pump, pull the shaft and bearings and swap it over to a mag pump and get it reinstalled back in the ski, ready to run. I then had a shower, got dressed to go out and was posting pics on the board when my wife walked thru the door 10 minutes early. I still got busted but that's not the point here.

I have seen guys so reluctant to spend money on a ski but then waste 10+ hours chasing an air leak. I don't know about you guys but 10 hours of my time is worth alot of money. If i suspect i have an airleak, i can pull the motor, tear it down, clean it up and completely reassemble it with all new seals and gaskets in less than 5 hours, probably even less than 3 hours if i was on my game. If i commit to it.

Electrical is even easier to resolve although not as cheap as new gaskets and seals. Just send it all to JSS and get it reworked at once. New stator and coil anyways. The rest can be patched but that new coil and stator is some of the best money spent in my book.

Both of my skis have run troublefree since i built them and with routine maintenance should continue to do so. When little things start to plaugue them, i will pick a weekend, tear them down to pieces, clean and prep everything and reassemble every nut and bolt again. Some will call me anal but i am not the guy with my hood off at the beach. I had a dead battery for the last ride and i was pissed, i had a spare and was going in under 10 minutes but I was still pissed.

Now you know why they call me OCD. :biggrin:

Exactly right.

 

[sjetrider]

As far as wrenching goes, I love it in the winter and hate it during the ride season. I have had a few years with little issues 2008 / 2009. But the end of 2009 and all of 2010 EVERYTHING WENT TO CRAP DURING my ride season.
This year EVERYTHING will be either new or completely gone through and when I come out for 2011 I am hoping for a SEMI wrench free season of riding.
New motors / new hull / new pumps or just new bearings and seals / same with mid shafts / completeley referbished T/L systems in both skis.

The value of new parts became incredibly clear to me when Toby and I both built REV'S some years ago. I used the parts from my 96 SJ and he used NEW cables and midshafts and pump bearings and on and on. My first season on the REV was flawless, 2nd season a few mechanical issues and then all HE!! broke lose it seemed at once and while his was together a year later than mine his to this day has had NO issues. Used parts are just that, they come with baggage that will show thier AZZZ at some point.

NEW MAKES ALLL THE DIFFERENCE.

There will be bugs to work out do to new hull and all but then this season should be stress free, I hope to spend my extra cash and time beach wide and surfriding , not on parts and wrenching lol.

 

[kraqus]

I hope you find that Gremlin.....come to Pismo this Saturday....


Benny

 

[chriselmore_1]

ohh the salt gremlins...

 

[enzo]

I hope you find that Gremlin.....come to Pismo this Saturday....


Benny

I need to ride! But will be in Belize till Christmas.